The gifted population is thinly distributed around the world. As a result, many gifted children have trouble finding in-person peers who share their intellectual interests.

For some gifted children this is a serious problem, resulting in them feeling very isolated, and even suffering from depression. Other gifted children are socially well adjusted and are happy to interact with their peers around non-intellectual interests, but still wish that they had people with whom to talk about their intellectual interests.

Nowadays people with unusual interests are sometimes able to find others who share them online even when they don't find them in person. For example, some research mathematicians who are interested in socializing around math congregate around MathOverflow.

It's often advised that children under the age 13 don't interact with strangers online, but I also know that there are a few communities like IGGY designed for gifted children. Some children who are interested in math interact on Art of Problem Solving is

How far do such communities go toward meeting gifted children's social needs? How far could they go? Is there room for improvement?


Advising for gifted children available at Cognito Mentoring.